- What is the problem or issue?
- Tenure-ERIC- [1]
- Form of job security for teachers who have performed a probationary period of work-usually 2-3 years
- Makes is harder to fire a teacher- have to go through a hearing
- Have to have an educational related purpose to fire a teacher
- Around 2.3 million public school teachers in the U.S. have Tenure- TIME-[2]
- This is a problem because it makes it very difficult for school districts and administrators to terminate ineffective teachers
- Tenure is too much protection and makes it such a long process to fire a teacher, it's cheaper and easier to get the teacher employed
- This makes students suffer because they are ending up getting teachers who are not teaching and not fitted for the position
- This hurts their education process and causes a vicious cycle that does nothing but harm the students and the school systems
- Why is this issue important?
- Typically, tenure allows for teachers to become ineffective and lazy because they know it's harder for them to be fired. Due to this laziness, the students are suffering when it comes to getting a proper education.
- Tenure gives the teachers too much protection and it makes it near impossible to get rid of an ineffective teacher
- "The alternative to such transfers is dismissal hearings that can take years to complete, soaking up a principal's critically needed time and tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees from the school system. And even then, success is not guaranteed".- "Why it's too hard to fire bad teachers" article- [3]
- The teachers impact the students' education and learning, which then impacts their standardized test scores, which is a major part of rating schools and a source of funding
- If bad teachers aren't preparing their students, the school district show that through assessments, and that in turn causes the schools to look bad and suffer
- Also, in Rhode Island, after a teacher gets tenure, they are not subject to annual renewal of contracts- [4]
- "Teachers who complete the probationary period shall be considered in continuous service and shall not be subject to annual renewal or nonrenewal of their contracts". (16-13-3 cite)
- This allows for teachers to become lazy and useless for the duration of their contract because they will make the same amount of money and keep their jobs no matter what.
- What is the historical roots of this problem? What has been tried in the past?
- 1900- presidents of Harvard, Colombia, and University of Chicago made clear that no donor could dictate faculty decisions-Wikipedia- [5]
- Before tenure, major donors could remove teachers for their positions or prohibit hiring certain people based on whatever reasons they wanted- Wikipedia- same as above
- Teacher tenure began in 1915-AAUP website- [6]
- In 1915, this was followed by the American Association of University Principles' (AAUP) declaration of principles—the traditional justification for academic freedom and tenure-Wikipedia- same above
- Tenure was instituted to give the teachers more protection and security in their jobs and to give them more of a powerful voice when it came to negotiating their contracts and their rights
- What are the current approaches?
- Making less automatic- NY Times article- [7]
- Making it so teachers EARN tenure, aren't just given it for nothing
- Getting rid of it?
- Reforming- Replacing administrative law judges with professional arbitrators- "Union Sets Forth" article- [8]
- Possible eliminating lifetime tenure- "Union Sets Forth"- renewable, based on five-year contracts
- Now measuring teacher success for basis of tenure- "New Guideline" article, NY Times- same as above
- Making it a basis of reward
- How does this problem/issue relate to RI schools? Is there evidence of a connection to the schools/districts/communities that we researched earlier?
- relates to giant firing of Central Falls High School
- Every teacher and administrator fired because they couldn't reach an agreement on spending more hours with students and not making more money
- The conditions are adding 25 minutes to the school day, providing tutoring on a rotating schedule before and after school, eating lunch with students once a week, submitting to more rigorous evaluations, attending weekly after-school planning sessions with other teachers and participating in two weeks of training in the summer. (Projo)- [9]
- Tenure was not taken into effect, which is what should be done normally, because the teachers weren't effective or willing to help the students without getting more money
- The teachers shouldn't expect more because they should have been helping the students more all along, the school just wants them to DO THEIR JOB.
- Although unfair, it is legal to fire them all
- "Under new federal requirements for school reform, low-performing schools have several options. One is called the transformation model, which includes a series of changes that teachers agree to adopt. When the negotiations on those changes failed at Central Falls High, the superintendent switched to another option: the turnaround model, which means firing every teacher at the troubled school". (CNN article)- [10]
- How has this issue been informed by our course readings? Other sources? Be specific and prepared to cite your sources!
- Ravitch- Chapter 9
- Discusses Michelle Rhee, the chancellor of schools, and her plan to be rid of tenure
- says it "' has no educational value for kids; it only benefits adults. If we can put veteran teachers who have tenure in a position where they don't have it, that would help us to radically increase our teacher quality'". (172)- [11]
- offered Washington Teachers' Union deal that if teachers gave up seniority and tenure, they would make higher salaries of up to $130,000 a year. (172)- same as above
- talks about "peer review programs" (176), in which teachers evaluate other teachers- same as above
- What are your views, opinions, concerns, or solutions related to the problem?
- My personal opinion, I don't like the idea of tenure
- I believe that it allows for lazy and ineffective educators to keep their jobs and continue to get paid for doing little or no work
- Although it may provide protection for the teacher, the fact that tenure keeps bad teachers around to educate the future of the world does nothing but harm the student and doesn't give them every advantage and opportunity possible
- My concern is that the more teachers who don't care, more students will stop caring
- Students aren't able to do things to the best of their ability because they aren't being given the proper knowledge and guidance from their teachers.
- I think that instead of having tenure and a base pay system, I think schools should institute a merit-pay system which is based on their performance and student review and opinions=
- It will be more effective in getting an idea of what a teacher is actually like and if they deserve to keep their jobs or if they should dismissed from their position
- Scary to think what'll happen to our education system and our country if this continues; kids are the future and need the proper education NOW.
- ^ Scott, J. (n.d.). Teacher Tenure. ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management. ERIC Digest, . Retrieved December 8, 2010, from http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-925/tenure.htm
- ^ Stephey, M. (2008, November 17). A Brief History of Tenure. TIME. Retrieved December 8, 2010, from http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1859505,00.html
- ^
- Weele, M. V. (1994 11). Why It's Too Hard to Fire Bad Teachers. EBSCOhost- Washington Monthly. Retrieved December 9, 2010, from http://0-web.ebscohost.com.helin.uri.edu/ehost/detail?vid=1&hid=113&sid=a88142ea-eedc-4ff1-80fa-747dd24b419b%40sessionmgr115&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=9411174120
- ce here.
- ^ Teachers' Tenure. (2007). State of Rhode Island General Assembly. Retrieved December 15, 2010, from http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/statutes/title16/16-13/16-13-3.HTM
- ^ Tenure. (2010, November 25). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.. Retrieved December 9, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenure#Tenure_in_the_19th_century
- ^ Tenure. (n.d.). American Association of University Professors. Retrieved December 8, 2010, from http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/issues/tenure/
- ^ Santos, F. (2010, December 14). Teacher Tenure Less Certain in New York City Schools. The New York Times. Retrieved December 15, 2010, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JSD/is_5_63/ai_n16375214/
- ^ Union Puts Forth Its Own Teacher Tenure Reform Proposal. (n.d.). My Fox Philly. Retrieved December 11, 2010, from http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/education/teacher_union/NJEA_Teacher_Tenure_Reform_Proposal_120710
- ^ Jennifer Jordan, & Linda Borg. (2010, February 13). Central Falls to fire ever high school teacher. The Providence Journal. Retrieved December 15, 2010, from http://www.projo.com/education/content/central_falls_teachers.1_02-13-10_A8HEI7Q_v61.3a65218.html
- ^ Kaye, R. (2010, February 24). All teachers fired at Rhode Island school. CNN U.S.. Retrieved December 15, 2010, from http://articles.cnn.com/2010-02-24/us/rhode.island.teachers_1_teachers-union-troubled-school-reading-specialists?_s=PM:US
- ^ Ravitch, D. (2010). The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. Basic Books.